Saturday, April 14, 2012

My Life in Records Kickstarter Project

I know this isn't abstract comics, but if any of you are interested in finding out more about my non-abstract work, you should check out my latest book on Kickstarter:

My Life in Records is a comic book series that tells the story of three brothers who are obsessed with music. Into My Heart
is the second issue of the series and begins with Tom’s brush with
death in a swimming pool. This experience combined with a kiddie gospel
record gets Tom asking lots of questions.

For instance:What is the difference between the Holy Ghost and Scary Ghosts?
And:Does Jesus stick out of people if He comes to live inside the heart of a person who is shorter than Him?

If you contribute to this project, you will have your name printed in
the back of the book. For a little extra, there are lots more goodies
like original artwork, silk screened prints and other comic books by me.

"One of the things instantly recognizable about My Life In Records is
that it captures, in visual language, the magical crackle and pop of a
vinyl record being played. There are also some early snippets of song
lyrics, those types of generational songs that define us. So, for all
those people who say that music doesn’t work well in comics, this one
proves them wrong. Thomas displays the lively colorful reds of guitar
strings humming, and builds a tale about childhood memories, music, art,
and pop culture like Sesame Street being the ephemeral soundtrack to a
person’s life." Poopsheet Foundation

"It’s always a little tricky to pull off music in comics, but I think Grant nailed it here." Optical Sloth

The coolest people on earth

On Abstract Comics: The Anthology (Currently SOLD OUT):

The artists assembled by Andrei Molotiu for his anthology ABSTRACT COMICS (Fantagraphics, $39.99) push “cartooning” to its limits... It’s a fascinating book to stare at, and as with other kinds of abstract art, half the fun is observing your own reactions: anyone who’s used to reading more conventional sorts of comics is likely to reflexively impose narrative on these abstractions, to figure out just what each panel has to do with the next.

--Douglas Wolk, New York Times Book Review, Holiday Books edition, December 6, 2009The collection has a wealth of rewarding material... it is a significant historical document that may jump-start an actual new genre.

--Doug Harvey, LA WeeklyIt becomes a treat to take a page of art - or a simple panel - and consider how the shapes, texture, depth, and color interact with one another; to reflect on how, when one takes the time, the enjoyment one ordinarily finds in reading a purely textually-oriented, narrative-driven written story can - with the graphic form - be translated into something completely different.

...this arresting book is like a scoop of primordial narrative, representational mud. Which is to say, it has vitaminic powers.

--Design Observer

For years, comics (at least American ones) have doggedly refused for one reason or another, to consider other schools of art and beyond mere representation. It's only now we see artists attempting to branch out and try to push at the edge's of the medium's definition. As such I found Abstract Comics to be a revealing, thought-provoking and genuinely lovely book that I'll be sure to be rereading in the months to come.